A Hero's Death
by TheAwesomeMudblood
Summary: Colin and Dennis Creevey are on the run from Lord Voldemort with their parents. Being the eldest wizard, Colin, aged only 16, has to take responsibility for his family's safety. With his faith in The Chosen One slipping away, can Colin cope? And will his muggle parents give him and his brother away to the Death Eaters? Read on to find out!
1. Doubts

"Sadly, these aren't the only deaths that the News Network and Daily Prophet didn't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murder of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell. A goblin by the name of Gornuk was also killed. It is believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin, both believed to be travelling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have escaped. If Dean is listening…" Colin looked at his brother, whose eyes were filling with tears, and stopped listening to the Potterwatch broadcast to comfort him. Being on the run from Voldemort was taking its toll on the whole of the Creevey family, but especially Dennis, who was only 14, and didn't really understand the big picture, or the urgency of the situation. He longed to be back at Hogwarts, to live and learn amongst fellow wizards and to see his friends again, but Colin knew that wasn't possible. Not now that Voldemort had taken over both the Ministry and Hogwarts. Muggle-borns like them had to hide, at least until Harry had put a stop to Voldemort's reign of terror. Some people would say that Colin was stupid to put all his hope in one boy, barely older than himself, but he knew that Harry could, and would, stop Voldemort. He just had to.

Dennis had stopped crying now, but he still looked miserable and frightened. "It'll be OK, Dennis. Harry has to be close to defeating You-Know-Who now, he just has to be." Colin smiled reassuringly. But Dennis didn't look convinced. "But it's been months now. W… what if he can't save us? What if we all die?" Colin looked around the tent, as his mother stirred in her bed, trying his hardest not to wake her. "We won't die; we're safe here. And we can keep listening to Potterwatch, so we can keep up to date with all the news. And moving our camping spot every day has got to help us stay away from You-Know-Who! We've taken every precaution." Dennis' lip trembled "But so did all those other people, and look what happened to them! Tonks, Cresswell, all of them! They never thought they'd die, and they did!" Colin couldn't think of a response to this. It was true, and he knew it. In a desperate attempt to change the subject, he said "try and get some sleep, Dennis. We need to move our camping spot tomorrow morning." Much to Colin's surprise, Dennis nodded, got up from his beanbag and headed off to his sleeping bag in the far corner of the tent. Following his brother's example, Colin turned off the radio, whispered "Nox" and fumbled his way through the now dark tent to his sleeping bag, next to his brother. Though he knew he needed to sleep, his mind couldn't help but wonder whether his faith in The Boy Who Lived had been ill-placed. He sincerely hoped not.


	2. Family Ties

Colin was woken suddenly by his father, who was frantically shaking his shoulders and muttering what sounded like "Death Eaters". Colin, rather than being groggy, as most teenagers would be when woken up in the early hours, was alert and ready to defend his family. He jumped out of sleeping bag, grabbed his wand, motioned to his family to stay in the tent and peered around the opening, expecting the worst. But the clearing was empty, as it had been when they had first arrived. Colin returned to the tent, his wand by his side, ready to tell his brother and parents the good news. The sight that met his eyes upon his return however, shocked him to the core.

He raised his wand, as he saw his brother and parents being held at wand-point by 3 masked Death Eaters. Dennis mouthed "sorry" and Colin gave a subtle nod, trying to remember what Harry had taught him while he had been a member of the DA. The Death Eaters had spotted Colin now, and he knew he had to act fast. "Stupefy!" he cried, as the Death Eater holding Dennis fell flat on his face. Dennis, now free, ran to his brother and hid behind him. Colin, thinking quickly, cast protego around his brother, in the hopes that he wouldn't be harmed by the 2 remaining Death Eaters. "Petrificus Totalus" Colin yelled, but the Death Eater he aimed the jinx at deflected it with ease, and cast a jet of red light at Colin's face. He ducked just in time, and, adrenaline coursing through his veins, retaliated with another Stunning charm. The Death Eater fell, and Colin's mother, with encouragement from Dennis, ran behind the shield charm to join her youngest son. Two members of Colin's family were now safe, but there still remained the problem of the 3rd. "Expelliarmus!" boomed Colin, but again his jinx was deflected. "Auguamenti!" he bellowed, as a jet of water erupted from the end of his wand. Once more, the Death Eater holding his father deflected the spell with what seemed like very little effort. This was going to be much more of a challenge than Colin had originally thought. "CRUCIO!" Before Colin knew what was happening, he was lifted off of the ground. He saw a flash of blinding white light, and felt nothing but pain. No, pain wasn't a strong enough word. It was more like agony. Nothing Colin had ever felt compared to this. But as suddenly as the pain had started, it finished, and Colin fell to the ground with a thud.

He braced himself for another round of pain, but it never came. He cautiously opened his eyes and saw that all 3 Death Eaters were lying on the ground; knocked out, by the look of it. He looked around frantically, first to check that his family were OK, but secondly to try and find out why the 3rd Death Eater had fallen. His second question was soon answered when Dennis, rather excitedly, exclaimed "Colin, Colin! Did you see what I did there, Colin? I stunned him! I actually stunned him!" He was jumping up and down with pride and joy, hardly able to contain himself. "I saw Dennis." He lied weakly. "Well done. I'm extremely proud." He smiled at his brother, before realising that it was time to move, before the Death Eaters came round.


	3. Friend or Foe?

"…And then, I shouted 'stupefy' and there was a flash of red light and, well, he just fell." Finished Dennis, now on his fifth recount of how he saw Colin in pain, jumped from behind the shield charm and stunned the third Death Eater. "Amazing, Dennis" Sighed Colin, for the fifth time. Though he was impressed by and thankful for his brother's bravery and quick thinking, the story was rapidly becoming old. Colin's head was still spinning from being cruciated, but he ploughed on, packing away the tent and the family's few remaining belongings, ready to move. "Where are we going this time, son?" asked Mr. Creevey, heaving his sleeping bag into the holdall they carried around with them. "No idea, Dad." He admitted. They had already been around most of Somerset, and being unable to apparate, they couldn't move a long distance. "Let's get moving and see where we end up." The Creeveys agreed, and started walking, Colin moving the bag with magic.

After a few hours of walking, Colin found a clearing in the woods that would be perfect for pitching a tent. "Here." He panted, pointing to the clearing and letting the bag drop to the floor with a small thump. Dennis waved his wand and the tent formed in front of their eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Creevey walked in first, with the sleeping bags, followed by Dennis, carrying food and water. Colin was about to walk in and join them when he heard rustling nearby. Paranoid after the events of the past 3 hours, he raised his wand, his eyes darting around, trying to find who or what was causing the noise.

Colin saw what looked like a human figure scramble from a large Ash tree to a smaller Cedar tree and he pointed his wand towards the latter. "Who's there?" he asked, trying to sound brave. "Come out and face me like a man!" No reply. Colin edged closer. "I'm armed!" He threatened, in the hope that whoever it was hiding from him would fear him if he was armed. Still no reply. Maybe he was imagining it all. He turned around to go into the tent and help his family set up camp properly. He was nearly at the entrance, when he heard a twig snap and more rustling. Colin convinced himself that it was a harmless animal and continued walking towards the tent. He stopped dead in his tracks before he had even taken four steps towards his destination. He swore that he heard a frantic, whispered voice. It was time to act.

"Petrificus Totalus!" He screamed, hoping against hope that the spell would hit whoever had been whispering. No sounds. Colin assumed it was safe, and snuck towards the spot that his spell had hit. Sure enough, it _was _a person who he had seen amongst the trees. By his feet lay a skinny, dirty and slightly dishevelled body, a wand lying by his head, clearly dropped when he was petrified by Colin's hex. As Colin bent down to identify him, he recognised him as a fellow Gryffindor; a friend of Harry Potter's. As realisation dawned on Colin, so did it on the petrified wizard. Colin had found Dean Thomas.


End file.
